Overview

This unit builds upon on students’ capabilities to identify problems and make effective decisions in a business environment. The unit will assist students to think clearly and rationally, and make judicious use of logic and evidence to guide decision-making. This requires analysing and assessing our thinking for clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic and significance with a view to its improvement. This unit helps students develop proactive reasoning abilities, so that students are better positioned to make, and persuasively present informed judgements about contemporary managerial issues.

Teaching Periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Make informed decisions in business environments, drawing on logical reasoning, reliable sources of evidence and academic theory
  • Recognise faulty thinking and cognitive biases and explain how they contribute to or influence decision making
  • Analyse managerial issues using multiple ethical frameworks and decide on a principled course of action
  • Apply multiple problem-solving strategies for analysing a complex business issue and formulating an innovative solution

Teaching methods

Swinburne Online

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Online Contact (Phasing out)
Online Learning Activities
4.00 12 weeks 48
Unspecified Learning Activities (Phasing out)
Independent Learning
8.50 12 weeks 102
TOTAL150

All Applicable Locations

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Face to Face Contact (Phasing out)
Lecture
1.00 12 weeks 12
Face to Face Contact (Phasing out)
Tutorial
1.00 12 weeks 12
Online
Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning
1.00 12 weeks 12
Unspecified Learning Activities (Phasing out)
Independent Learning
9.50 12 weeks 114
TOTAL150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
Case AnalysisIndividual 30 - 40% 3,4 
Major AssignmentIndividual 30 - 50% 1,2,3,4 
PresentationIndividual 20 - 30% 1,2 

Content

  •  Forming and evaluating the strength of arguments
  •  Using principles of evidence-based management to inform decision making
  •  Historical approaches to the study of organisations and managerial tasks.
  •  Ethics and corporate social responsibility
  •  Cognitive biases and persuasion tactics
  •  The role of rational and intuitive thinking in management decision-making
  •  Reflective skills for learning and improving performance
  •  Critical thinking skills for dealing with contemporary management issues

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.